Plastic covered glass container

ABSTRACT

The invention disclosed relates to a plastic coated glass container. A wide variety of glass bottles or jars have a covering of shrinkable plastic material shrunken over a selected region of the glass wall. The covering may be first pre-decorated or pre-printed while in a flat form. The covering may be a seamless tube or a sheet wrapped on a mandrel cylinder to a continuous (endless) sleeve form that is telescopically inserted over the bottle encircling the area to be covered. The lower marginal end thereof will overhang the bottom end of the bottle. The sleeve may be of a pre-foamed or non-foamed plastic material, opaque, pigmented or transparent. It is shrunken in situ by heat so that it fits snugly on the bottle surface and conforms to the container wall about its shoulder, body, heel and its bearing surface at the bottom end of the bottle to provide: (1) a body covering protecting the glass against surface damage, (2) a preprinted label or decoration for the bottle, and (3) a plastic covering on the lower end bearing surface protecting those areas from damage; and further providing sufficient protection for the glass to eliminate carton partitions, dividers or the like currently used.

United States Patent 1 Richie [75] Inventor:

[52] US. Cl. 215/12 R, 215/40 [51] Int. Cl 865d 41/04 [58] Field ofSearch 215/12 R, 38 A, DIG. 6;

229/DlG. 12

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,565,954 8/1951 'Dey 215/12R 2,610,940 9/1952 Endicott... 215/12 R UX 3,358,902 12/1967 Emmertm.215/38 A X 3,083,854 4/1963 Lusher 215/12 R X 2,568,371 9/1951 Seaver215/12 R 3,235,112 2/1966 Fillwalk 215/38 A UX 1,969,453 8/1934Churchill 215/38 A X 2,090,320 8/1937 Amick 215/12 R FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 757,591 10/1933 France 215/12 R Primary Examiner'-,DonaldF. Norton Attorney-J. R. Nelson and E. J. Holler 1 3,738,524 [4 1 June12, 1973 [57] ABSTRACT The invention disclosed relates to a plasticcoated glass container. A wide variety of glass bottles or jars have acovering of shrinkable plastic material shrunken over a selected regionof the glass wall. The covering may be first pro-decorated orpre-printed while in a flat form. The covering may be a seamless tube ora sheet wrapped on a mandrel cylinder to a continuous (endless) sleeveform that is telescopically inserted over the bottle encircling the areato be covered. The lower marginal end thereof will overhang the bottomend of the bottle. The sleeve may be of a pre-foamed or nonfoamedplastic material, opaque, pigmented or transparent. It is shrunken insitu by heat so that it fits snugly on the bottle surface and conformsto the container wall about its shoulder, body, heel and its bearingsurface at the bottom end of the bottle to provide: (1) a body coveringprotecting the glass against surface damage, (2) a pre-printed label ordecoration for the bottle, and (3) a plastic covering on the lower endbearing surface protecting those areas from damage; and furtherproviding sufficient protection for the glass to eliminate cartonpartitions, dividers or the like currently used.

1 Claim, 13 Drawing Figures PAIENIED I 3.738.524

SHEEIIDFQ INVENTOR Amrwevs PAIENIED SHEEIZUQ FIG. I5

Pmmmm 5.138.524

SHEU 3 U 9 FIG. 4"

INVENTOR CARLTON AJQ E JQZJW Ma mR i-IVS PAIEmm-wm 5.738.524

SHEET 8 0f 9 FIG. 10

INVENTOR UQKZJW & .7416- PAIENIED 3.738.524

sum 9 or 9 INVENTOR map M11! ATTOIZI Q8 CARLTON Qlavzu \E PLASTICCOVERED GLASS CONTAINER DESCRIPTION The invention relates to an improvedglass container providing exceptional functional advantages of strength,preservation of the glass, aesthetic appearance, manufacturingconvenience, ease in labelling or decorating, and ware protectivecoating that will eliminate the need for carton partitions in handlingthe containers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the present art of glass containers,several expedients have been employed to preserve the pristine strengthof the outer glass surface of the bottle. Among these are varioustransparent spray coatings of metal oxides, such as titanium, tin orlike compounds, which pyrolize and form a thin invisible coating toprevent surface abuse of the glass. Other transparent organic coatingshave been provided to similarly avoid surface scratches or abrasions ofthe bottle exterior in handling after the bottle is manufactured. Thesecoatings in part attempt to impart a lubricity to the glass make it lesstacky or abrasive so that upon contact with other containers or objectsless abrasion may result. However, in the various coatings applied tothe newly formed bottles there are certain attendant problems. Amongthese are difficulty in labelling, such as with adhesively applied paperor foil labels, and difficulty in determining whether an adequatecoating has been ap plied.

A recent innovation for overcoming the foregoing problems in thecontainer industry is disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,482,724 in which acomposite container provides a base element secured to the glass toprovide a coating for the lower portions of the glass eliminatingglass-to-glass contact at the major diameter, provide a prelabelled basefitment on the container, and, characteristic of that container, thebase provides stable nomar bearing support for the package.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the present container of this invention, abottle providing the product storage compartment or envelope has appliedthereto a unique sheath or sleeve covering that may be predecorated orlabelled by high speed, high quality flat printing, is inexpensive tomake and apply and provides body protection for the container againstabrasion or surface damage and, if desired, a bottom bearing ringsupport.

The invention includes the preferred form of sleeve that in its finishedform is tightly engaging onto the bottle constructed of glasssusceptible to surface damage and abrasion in lessening its strength.

.In another form of the invention, the sleeve composed of a pre-foamed,shrinkable material is applied to provide a light weight, cellular butrelatively thick cushion of protection to the glass, thereby addingfurther protection.

Another important feature of the invention is the provision of a plasticsleeve of shrinkable thermoplastic material, formed from a rectilinearblank of sheet material and wrapped circumferentially on a cylindricalmandrel such that the opposite ends of the blank overlap for forming alapped seam. Heat and pressure is applied in the overlap areas to sealthe seam and compress the material thereby reducing the thickness of theoverlapping layers to be substantially that of the single thicknesslayer of the remainder of the sleeve. This offers a strong connectionfor the ends of the blank in forming the sleeve yet is an attractive andfunctional covering upon shrinking the sleeve to conform to the bottle.

In another form of the invention, the plastic sleeve of shrinkablethermoplastic material is a seamless, continuous tubing shape that ishighly oriented in the transverse direction only (circumferentially) andmay be most advantageous with thinner films that are either colored,opaque or transparent.

An additional feature of the invention resides in the wall to wallprotection of glass containers when handied or transported in a carton.Heretofore, glass botties are conventionally placed within cells formedby criss-cross partitions or dividers in the carton. The partitions arecut or sawed from sheets of corrugated pa per, and paper dust orfragments (called carton dust) often accompany the dividers into theirplacement in the carton. During shipment of the empty containers in thecarton from the bottle manufacturer to the bottle user, this carton dustenters the bottles. The carton dust problem causes the user added costand handling to remove any of this foreign matter before filling. By theuse of the bottles of this invention, carton partitions or dividers maybe eliminated, which results in a saving of material in the carton and,just as important, eliminates the attendant carton dust problem.

In one form of the invention, the so-called insect infestation problemin packages of certain foods is obviated. The packaging of baby food isconventionally in glass jars closed by lug-type screw cap and bottlefinish. The lower skirt edge of the cap on the baby food jar provides anundercut peripheral area between the skirt and glass finish whereatduring shelf life, etc. insects may be attracted to lay eggs, hatchlarvae, etc. Since the food is packaged under vacuum, the loosening ofthe closure creates a sudden rush of air over this area and into thejar, carrying the unsightly, insect contaminant into the food. Thepresent invention eliminates this problem. The shrinkable plastic sleeveis assembled onto a food container, such as a baby food jar, to form theupper edge perimeter of the plastic covering at an elevation that willbe in firm contact with the skirt edge of a screwed-on closure. By therebeing an overlap between the skirt edge and the shrunken plasticcovering on the jar, the area of the former insect problem is nowadvantageously filled with the plastic of the jar covering. In analternative fashion, if the shrunken plastic covering may be put on thejar after it is closed, the upper peripheral margin of the covering maybe shrunken into an outer lapping relationship to the skirt peripherallower edge and thereby completely seal off the juncture space betweenclosure and glass; and, additionally, provide a tamperproof feature tothe package.

The present invention, in the various embodiments herein presented,provides for a variation in body wall coverage that ranges in theminimum sleeve that extends from the major diameter in the body of thebottle into the bottom end to the maximum sleeve that extends from themouth finish, whether or not externally I overlapping a closure, intothe bottom end. Thus, in the bottle design, the best overall containerfrom the standpoint of appearance, decoration and function with safetyand strength a major consideration is selected to provide the new andimproved container of the invention suitable for the product to bepackaged. The preferred body coverage of the sleeve on the bottle willinclude coverage of the larger diameter cross-sectional regions, usuallyoccurring in the shoulder and near the heel of the bottle.

Several other attendant objects and advantages of the invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the descriptions anddrawings of the invention, as will presently appear.

In this disclosure, the terms glass container and bottle and jar areeach intended to mean a struc ture for a product chamber or vesseldefined by a glass wall that includes a mouth opening for access to thechamber. The mouth is closed by a closure device to enclose product inthe vessel.

The invention is adaptable to round, oval, square, ribbed, wide mouth,narrow neck, crown finish, screw or threaded finish, lug finish, or manyother special designed shapes of glass containers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front perspective view ofa glass bottle illustrative of one form of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of a flat form of the pre-decoratedblank of plastic to be wrapped about a mandrel and seamed for coveringthe bottle of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of a seamless form of pre-decoratedblank of plastic for covering the bottle of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the apparatus for forming the pre-printedflat blank to a sleeve form and heatsealing the overlapping ends toaseamed sleeve.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the bottle of FIG. 1 and plastic sleeveformed in accordance with FIG. 4 telescopically oriented prior to heatshrinking the plastic.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the bottle and sleeve assembly of FIG. 5undergoing heat treatment.

FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of the bottle and sleeve of FIG. 6after the sleeve is heat shrunken into engagement with the bottle.

FIG. 8 is a partly broken, sectional perspective view of a plasticcovered, glass bottle of FIG. 7, and having a closure thereon.

FIG. 9 is an elevational view, partly broken away, of a food containeradapted with the plastic covering of the invention, illustrating anotherform of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a front perspective view of a further form of the inventionshowing a full height sleeve on a glass bottle.

FIG. 11 is a front elevational view illustrating another form of theinvention.

FIG. 12 is a front perspective view of a further form of the inventionillustrating irregular bottle surfaceshape design and the appliedplastic covering thereon.

FIG. 13 is a front perspective view of a still further form of theinvention illustrating another glass bottle having an irregular surfaceconfiguration and squarelike shape, the plastic covering applied thereonbeing apertured between the enlarged shoulder and heel regions of thebottle.

DESCRIPTION With reference to FIG. 1, a glass bottle 10 has a mouthopening 11 defined by a finish rim 12 at the top end of the inwardlytapered neck 13. The neck 13 blends with the outwardly tapering shoulder14 that is contiguous with the cylindrical body portion 15. Body 15represents a straight-sided, cylindrical portion having the major ormaximum diameter (major circumference 15a) of bottle 10. The lower reachof body 15 describes a relatively large corner radius 16 blending intobottom and 17 of bottle 10. Preferably, corner radius 16 is relativelylarge to provide a curvature adjacent the bottom end of the bottle. Theusual design of bottle 10 provides that end 17 is slightly concavesurface such that an annulus portion of end 17 supports bottle 10 on aflat horizontal surface. This annulus region is shown in FIG. 1 as thestippled area 18.

A sleeve 19 of a plastic material is assembled to the bottle 10 in amanner to be presently described. In one form, the sleeve 19 ispreferably formed from a rectangular sheet of heat shrinkable plasticmaterial (FIG. 2) having opposed marginal ends 20 and 21 that areoverlapped and seamed. In this illustrated embodiment of the invention,the dimension of ends 20, 21 is selected such that it is slightlygreater than the distance from above the body portion 15, around bottomcomer 16 to a point at about the inner edge of the recessed bottom area18 (see FIG. 8). The sleeve 19 is formed as substantially a hollowcylinder with a lapped seam joint, i.e., edges 20, 21 overlap eachother, and these ends are heat sealed together in a manner to bedescribed. The sleeve is telescopically moved over bottom end 17 ofbottle 10 until the upper marginal edge 22 extends above the upperextremity of body 15 of the bottle (FIG. 1). In this relationship ofassembly, the bottle 10 and sleeve 19 are placed in a heated atmosphereof sufficient temperature to shrink the plastic material and thereretained to shrink sleeve 19 from its annular shape to a tight bottleconforming shape extending from the lower marginal edge 23 (FIG. 8) tothe upper marginal edge 22.

The sleeve 19 is formed as a blank cut from flat sheet stock ofshrinkable plastic sheet material, as in the form shown on FIG. 2, andhas a decorative image 24 of preselected design printed on one face ofthe sheet blank between the ends 20, 21. Printing may be applied by anysuitable method, color or design adaptable to the sheet material andsuch printing of design image may be done while the sheet of material isa supply web, i.e., before the sleeve blank 19 is formed to size, or theformed blanks 19 may be made in a sequence and then printed.Alternatively, no printing or image need appear on the blanks 19,however, one of the decided two-fold advantages of the sleeve 19 in theassembly of the composite container of this invention is the provisionof decoration for the container that is printed separately of handlingthe container and thereby achieve a cheaper, yet more desirable andhigher caliber decoration plus the cost of extra handling of the bottlein applying a decoration is avoided.

Referring to FIG. 3, another form of the plastic sleeve covering isdisclosed. In this form, a seamless, tubular length of plastic 25 is cutto the desired length between end margins 25a and 25b. Before cuttingthe lengths of plastic tube 25, a supply of the tubular seamless plasticof the proper diameter is highly oriented in the circumferential ortransverse direction by stretching the tube diametrically just afterextrusion. No stretching should be provided in the axial dimension sothat the resultant plastic tube is mono-axially oriented. The tubesupply may be collapsed or flattened and provided with a desiredprinting or decoration 24. Thereafter, most conveniently, the lengths oftubing 25 are cut and placed over container 10. The tube sleeve 25 isplaced to extend below the end of bottle in the same manner asillustrated on FIG. 5 and thereat shrunken onto the bottle.

Although it is not shown in the drawings, it is further possible underthe invention to provide a pre-decorated bottle with a dense, opaquedecorative image on its surface, such as at body surface (FIG. 1) andapply to it a heat shrinkable sleeve of either form 19 or 25 oftransparent or somewhat translucent material of the type contemplated sothat the image of the decoration may be viewed through the sleeve. Inthis manner, the sleeve serves as a protective covering for thedecoration on the bottle body 15 as well as protective for the bottle 10itself against exterior abuse and abrasion of the glass wall.

In the last described alternate from of the invention, the container maymore readily serve as a returnable bottle for service through severaltrips in packaging beer or beverage products. The protection affordedthe decoration and the bottle by the plastic sleeve will enhance thelife of the bottle through handling, filling, capping, processing,shipping to market and handling of the consumer, and return to thebottler and his recycle usage involving washing and the rinse steps inthe several repeat trips for delivery of product to consumers.

An important design criteria in the present invention is the selectionof the surface areas that the plastic sleeve is to cover on the bottle.Several examples of this are shown on the drawings.

By extending the sleeve on the bottle to just above the top of the body15 of bottle 10 or above the uppermost major diameter of bottle 10 andonto the neck portion the largest annular sections of the bottle areprotected from side or bottom end contact with the surrounding surfaces,i.e., a floor, a table top, an adjacent bottle or stationary verticalguides and the like. As seen on FIG. 8, the neck and finish is coveredby a closure member 27 in end use, and this member absorbs shock ofimpact thereat.

To illustrate this point further, it is important that at least theregion adjacent the enlarged or laterally bulged diametrical regions ofthe bottle and the lower end bearing surface be covered with theplastic. The various container designs on the drawings illustrate thismore specifically. In the container shown on FIg. 1, these regions arein the shoulder region at the top end of body 15, at the heel region 16and on the annular bearing surface 18 on the bottom end of bottle 10. Onthe container shown on Flg. 9, the regions are at shoulder 37, heel 43and bottom end bearing surface 44. In the container 45 shown on FIG. 11,the regions are at shoulder enlargement 47, enlarged lower side wall 48,heel 49 and bottom end surface portion 53. On FIG. 12, the protection ofthe plastic is needed at the apex of the ribs 52 and the bottom endbearing surface of container 50. On FIG. 13, protection of regions atshoulder bulge 61, heel bulge 62 and the bottom end of container 60 areimportant.

The closure 27 shown on Fig. 8 comprises an outer metal cap 28 ofaluminum that may include a ring pull convenience opening device 29attached to a prescored tear strip in the top panel of the cap andextending into the side or skirt. Underlying cap 28 is a sealant orgasket member 30 of an elastomeric material, such as polyethylene. Thegasket 30 annularly surrounds the finish 12 of bottle 10 and in thepreferred form shown extends across mouth opening 11 of the bottle. Theparticular finish 12 is not a part of this invention and, therefore, anyknown bottle finish may take the place of the finish 12 shown on thedrawings, for example the crown finish on FIG. 11 or the screw-lugfinish on FIG. 9. In the closure illustrated, the outer cap is crimpedtightly onto bottle finish 12 and seals the closure against the finishand along the sloping neck 13 of the container. The gasket 30 of theclosure is thus designed in the embodiment described to provide a sealof the closure on the container finish.

Other important features are involved with the bottles on embodimentsillustrated by FIGS. 9-11.

The container on FIG. 9 represents a glass baby food jar 26, a widemouth container. The jar has the lug type screw neck finish 34 includingraised helically located, raised lugs 35. Below the finish :is a thincylindrical neck region 39. The glass wall of jar 26 extends radially tothe shoulder 37 at a radius and the side wall is cylindrical of aboutthe same diameter as shoulder 37. At the bottom end of the jar is heelregion 43 adjacent the relatively large radius that joins with thebottom bearing surface 44. The plastic sleeve 25, for example, isapplied to the jar in accordance with the invention and isselected of anaxial length dimension in the blank (FIG. 3) from end 25a to end 25b sothat the top edge 25a extends somewhat above shoulder 37 of jar 26 andthe bottom edge 25b extends below the plane of bottom end 44 of the.jar. Upon shrinking the tubular plastic blank 25, the plastic snuglycovers the glass of the cylindrical neck region 36 and along the wall ofthe jar over the heel radius at 43 and onto the bottom end wall 44. Atthe time the screw closure (not shown) is applied to the jar, the lowerannular edge of the cap skirt is tightened to bite into the plasticcovering 25 along the radial extent adjacent cylindrical wall 36 andseal off the lower edge of the cap (not shown) against foreign matter orinsects infesting the under side of the lower cap skirt between it andthe cylindrical glass wall. The other protection objectives, justdescribed, against contact or abuse at the larger diameter body regionsand the bearing lower end support are also covered with plastic of thesleeve 25. Either the seamless sleeve 25 or seamed sleeve 19 may beemployed for this purpose.

On FIG. 10, the entire side wall of bottle 10 and the lower end bearingsurface are covered by plastic sleeve 19b. This illustrates a fullheight sleeve embodiment of the invention. The sleeve 19b is applied tothe bottle 10 such that after it is shrunken, the sleeve extends fromthe neck region 13 around the heel of the bottle and onto the bottomend. The full height sleeve of this em-- bodiment is shrunken into snugfitting engagement with the bottle wall by the treatment describedherein.

On FIG. 11, the narrow neck bottle 45 having a conventional crown finish46 includes a rather long neck sloped downwardly and outwardly merginginto bulged shoulder 47. Below shoulder 47 is an inset cylindrical bodyjoined with a lower, outwardly bulged heel region 48 having lower endradius 49 joining with bottom end 53 at the annular bearing surface. Aseamless sleeve 25, for example, is shrunken over the glass bottle 45from just above the tapered lead in to shoulder 47, along the inset ofthe cylindrical body, over bulged heel 48, corner radius 49 and onto thelower end annular bearing surface 53. Besides providing the glassprotection pointed out earlier herein, this embodiment supplies a labelor decoration 24 on the sleeve 25 over the inset body region of bottle45 between the bulged portions 47 and 48.

In the embodiments of FIGS. 9 and 10 wherein nearly total coverage ofthe glass wall of jar 26 and bottle 10 are provided, should breakage ofthe container occur, up to 85 percent of the fragments of glass may beretained by the plastic sleeve covering. In the case of the FIG. 11embodiment, up to 70 percent of the fragments of glass may be retainedby the sleeve covering. This demonstrates an added safety feature toglass containers provided by the invention.

In relation to the above-described embodiments of the invention, thefollowing are some examples of materials that are preferred for use.

The bottles such as 10, 50, 60, 45 or jar 26 are comprised of asoda-lime-silica glass composition well known in the bottle industry andmay be formed by conventional molding practices.

The thermoplastic is made to provide mono-axial orientation of thesleeves 19 or 25. When the thermoplastic is first extruded and formed toa tubular film it is stretched corresponding to the direction transverseto' the axis of the later formed sleeve a desired amount. Any stretch inthe direction corresponding to the axial dimension of formed sleeve isto be avoided. The plastic utilized has mono-axial orientation to thebest practical degree. The plastic may be pre-printed, if desired, forcertain of the embodiments herein described. The printed plastic maythen be cut to lengths that correspond to the height dimension, forexample the length of sides 20, 21 of blank 19 (FIG. 2). It is importantthat the orientation of the stretch of the film and ultimate shrinkreaction be along the length of the blank sides 22, 23, or in thecircumferential dimension of blank 25.

The density and wall thickness of foamed thermoplastics is controllablein the initial sheet or film pro- 'cessing. It can also be controlled inpost-forming applications. For example, polystyrene sheet can be made toas much as 65 lb. per cubic foot density range, depending upon desiredend use. Post heated foamed plastic may further expand as it shrinksaround the container, and this will lower the end density of thematerial on the container.

In the case of sleeve 19, after slitting to the height dimension thepre-printed plastic strips may be stored as rolls. The preprinted rollsare then fed to a cutter forming the individual blanks 19 shown on FIG.2 having sides 20, 21 and are formed or cut to the dimensions 22 and 23.The blanks 19 are fed to a mandrel 31 as shown on FIG. 4.

EXAMPLE I The blanks are formed of foamed plastic material having themonol-axial orientation shrink property. Examples of plastics are:copolymers of carboxylic acid containing monomers with ethylene which issold in one form under the trade name Surlyn", medium or low densitypolyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, to name afew of the available plastic materials. The preferred thickness of thefoamed plastic is in the range of 0.01 to 0.10 inches.

In practice, it has been found that blanks as 19 made from foamed,mono-axially oriented polystyrene shrink sheet material of approximately0.02 inch thickness and 15 lb. per cubic foot density are very suitablein utilizing the invention on glass beer and beverage bottles such asbottle 10, of the 10 to 12 fluid ounce capacity size.

EXAMPLE II The blanks are formed from non-foamed plastic material havingthe mono-axial orientation shrink property. Similar plastic materialgiven for Example I may be utilized. The preferred thickness of the filmis in the range of 0.0025 to 0.007 inches, the thickness being selectedin the interest of function of the sleeve covering and economy of theresulting container. In practice, a clear film of polystyrenemonoaxially oriented film of approximately 0.005 inch thickness may beutilized for the sleeve covering on bottles 10 of the 10 to 12 fluidounce capacity size.

In FIGS. 4-6, fabrication of the seamed sleeve covered containerembodiment of the invention is disclosed. Sheet material, such as setforth by the above Examples, is cut to the shape of the blank of FIG. 2for the sleeve 19 (in this case a rectilinear form), decorated with animage 24 either before or after the blank cutting operation and fed to arotary mandrel head 31. Mandrel 31 is mounted on shaft 32 and held bycollar 33. Shaft 32 is rotated and the blank 19 wrapped thereon withends 20 and 21 overlapping, as

- shown on FIG. 4. The mandrel 31 is concentric with a stripper sleeve38 carried on a bracket and vertical spindle 39 (FIG. 4). Strippersleeve 38 is in its lowered position out of interference with sleeve 19.The mandrel is the desired size (diameter) in relation to the bottle 10that is to receive the sleeve when finished.

As the mandrel wraps the blank so as to overlap the trailing edge overthe leading edge, a lap-seam is formed either by heat and pressure or anadhesive, thereby bonding the overlapped regions of plastic together.

As seen in FIG. 5, bottle 10 is brought to axial alignment with sleeve19 and the latter is telescoped with bottle 10. The sleeve is slightlylarger in diameter than the larger or major bottle diameter and fits onthe bottle.

Flg. 5 shows the position of sleeve 19 as it is initially assembled onbottle 10 such that the lower edge of sleeve 13 spaced below bottom end17 on the order of one-half inch or a sufficient extent to form theshrunken plastic over the bearing ring on bottom 17 of bottle 10. Bottle10 with sleeve 19 initiallyassembled is suspended from transfer tongs 41which transport the assembly 10, 19 into and through an oven 42.

Oven 42 may be constructed as an elongated tunnel and heated air iscirculated throughout the tunnel as the container is moved therein. Theair temperature in the oven may be on the order of 400F and sleeve 19will shrink into snug fitting engagement with the adjacent surface ofbottle 10 to form the finished container shown on FIG. 7.

The containers of the invention have been tested in the standard CONBURIMPACT TEST. (ASTM, Part 15, April 1970, D-880-68, describes test.) Aseries of four-fifths quart round liquor bottles (water filled) wereplaced side by side in conventional cartons minus partitions ordividers. The bottles included sleeves like 25 (FIG. 3) thereon coveringthe wall area similar to FIG. 11. The sleeves were comprised ofapproximately 0.075 inch thick foamed or expanded polystyrene. Theresults of the test demonstrated the enhanced strength of the containerof this invention and compared with cartons having partitions.

Other forms of the invention are shown on FIGS. 12 and 13. On FIG. 12,glass bottle 50 has a body portion 51 comprised of raised ribs or swirls52. The sleeve blank 19' is a rectilinear form similar to the blankdescribed earlier. The sleeve 19 is shrunken onto bottle 50 in themanner earlier described such that the sleeve has snug fittingengagement along the body wall 51 in the depressions or valleys on thebottle between the raised swirls. Throughout, sleeve 19' undergoes arelatively large extent of shrinkage such that the sleeve is reducedfrom its initial diameter, as formed on mandrel 31, to the varyingdiameters at the neck of bottle 50, the body thereof throughout theswirl 52 regions, at the heel curvature and onto the bottom end surface.This large extent of shrinkage reduces the sleeve into a snug conformingfit on the bottle, but without shrinkage in the height dimension 20, 21of the blank.

FIG. 13 illustrates another form of irregularly shaped bottle 60 whichincludes a body portion that has a shoulder region 61. Shoulder 61 is abulged portion of the bottle of major diametrical dimension. Near thelower end of the bottle is a similar major diameter bulged annularportion 62. Between shoulder portion 61 and lower raised portion 62 is aconcave region 63 of lesser diameter. In essence, the body shape of thebottle just described is somewhat hour-glass shaped. The sleeve 19athereon may be made to rectilinear form a blank from a sheet of ashrinkable or foamed shrinkable plastic material. The sleeve 19a issuitable for a bottle of hour-glass shape, as bottle 60, or a squareshape or panel style bottle often used in certain product areas. Inbottle 60, the areas shaded at 64 provide a pinched effect along thecontainer wall and the sleeve 19a is shrunken into conforming, snugfitting relationship with the bottle side wall and end wall.

In practice of the invention, one skilled in the art will selectsuitable film or foamed thermoplastics of a diameter, length, width,density, surface hardness and thickness to provide efficient, economicaland practical usage of the covering means on the bottle for productusage requirements and yet the end product package in the containerhaving the features of this invention will be realized.

The minimum requirement of theinvention is to provide glass bottleprotection by means in annular thermoplastic shrink material for theso-called contact points of the bottle (the enlarged] or bulged sidewall portions) and the bottom bearing surface just inside and below theheel of the bottle. More extensive use of the covering means of thethermoplastic will provide further advantages of predecoration, coasterbottom, elimination of carton partitions and the attendant carton dustproblem, elimination of insect infestation or foreign matter in vacuumpacked containers, and lastly, but by no means least in importance,glass particle retention upon accidental breakage.

Other and further modifications may be resorted to without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed:

1. In a vacuum packaged product, the combination of a wide mouth glasscontainer packaging a product content including a neck portion having amouth defined by a rim, the neck portion including a raised helicalthread means on the glass exterior surface adjacent said rim providing aclosure attaching element on the container, a shoulder portion below theclosure attaching element, a cylindrical body portion below the shoulderportion, a heel portion at the bottom end of the body portion and abottom portion including a bearing surface at the opposite end of thecontainer, a shrunken thermoplastic covering layer in encircling fashionon the container that is shrunken thereon from a tubular, sleeve formand is of an axial dimension to extend in shrunken form from alocationadjacent the lower extremity of the helical thread means on the neckportion and overlying the exterior glass surface of the shoulder, body,heel and bottom end portions of the glass container in a snug fittingengagement with said exterior glass surface portions, and a closuresealing the product content in the container, said closure having a toppanel portion covering the mouth of the container and a circumferentialdownwardly extending skirt integral with said panel, screw threads onthe interiorly facing surface of said skirt engaged on the helicalthread means of said neck portion and tightened thereon so that thelower annular edge of the closure skirt bites into the thermoplasticcovering layer on the glass shoulder surface adjacent said neck portion,thereby sealing the lower edge of the cap against penetration of foreignmatter under the skirt of the closure.

1. In a vacuum packaged product, the combination of a wide mouth glasscontainer packaging a product content including a neck portion having amouth defined by a rim, the neck portion including a raised helicalthread means on the glass exterior surface adjacent said rim providing aclosure attaching element on the container, a shoulder portion below theclosure attaching element, a cylindrical body portion below the shoulderportion, a heel portion at the bottom end of the body portion and abottom portion including a bearing surface at the opposite end of thecontainer, a shrunken thermoplastic covering layer in encircling fashionon the container that is shrunken thereon from a tubular, sleeve formand is of an axial dimension to extend in shrunken form from a locationadjacent the lower extremity of the helical thread means on the neckportion and overlying the exterior glass surface of the shoulder, body,heel and bottom end portions of the glass container in a snug fittingengagement with said exterior glass surface portions, and a closuresealing the product content in the container, said closure having a toppanel portion covering the mouth of the container and a circumferentialdownwardly extending skirt integral with said panel, screw threads onthe interiorly facing surface of said skirt engaged on the helicalthread means of said neck portion and tightened thereon so that thelower annular edge of the closure skirt bites into the thermoplasticcovering layer on the glass shoulder surface adjacent said neck portion,thereby sealing the lower edge of the cap against penetration of foreignmatter under the skirt of the closure.